(This is part of my journey going checking out Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire. You can follow the entire series on the Retro Gaming page.)

One great design decision for this time-progression game is that Quest for Glory II doesn’t shove a main quest in your face from the get-go. Instead, it lets you simply explore, find some things to do, and generally grow to know and like the city. That way when day five arrives here and a fire elemental is threatening to burn everything to the ground, there’s a much better chance you actually care instead of shrugging and going, “Why me?”

Pro-tip: Do not try to hug a fire elemental. You actually have to kind of be very persistent about it to earn this death. I just wanted a hug today.

Lacking a hose or Smokey the Bear to fight the fire elemental, I have to figure out some other way to save the town. You’d think everyone would be out there with buckets of water, but no, the populace seems content to hunker down and wait for either salvation or a fiery inferno of pain.

Aziza the enchantress has a few words to say about elementals. She mentions that each of the four can only be weakened by the contrary element, after which they can be captured and put to good use. Like Pokémon, I suppose.

A plan starts to come together to defeat Mr. Fire Elemental. What I need to do is to lure it away from the plaza using incense, then douse it with water and force it into a container, where it will serve me as a magical flame for all time.

Once you have the necessary materials — waterskins, incense, and the lamp — it’s not too hard to put this elemental in its place. I lure it down a hallway, then splash it and scoop it up in the lamp. Now I’ve got a flashlight!

What I haven’t done a lot yet in this game is engage in actual thievery, and since the moneychanger isn’t giving me any jobs, I decide to rob the weapons dealer blind instead. Of course, it’s never a good idea to pick locks right as a guard is walking by. Whoops.